There were two numbers for each magic item: xp and gp. The xp amount is what you got if you kept the item, while the gp is the amount you can sell the item for. The gp value was usually about double the xp amount, IIRC, so selling useless items for gp & xp was a pretty common tactic. I don't know what the original intent was, but the DMs I gamed with didn't allow any trade discussion if you wanted the xp for selling the item... you had to decide as soon as loot was divided.Oh I see, sadly I never played with gold to xp, even when I played 1e, so I wasn't aware of this nuance. So owning a valuable item isn't worth xp, but converting it to gold pieces is?
As a reminder, this style of play assumed a large rotating cast of players & characters each session. This prevented a lot of item optimization, since you might not have any given class during a session. Class specific items were almost always sold unless someone could immediately use it. If you had a set group of players & characters, this style of play can become problematic.